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Friday, February 4, 2011

First off it covers all professional football players, not just the NFL.

Second, the average pay of a professional football players is just over $20,000 a year (when you eliminate star quarterbacks of NFL teams).

Third, the the issue is that owners want more than the 40% of earnings they get now, after expenses.

Fourth, the players want to mitigate the increasingly dangerous and brutal aspects of the game, particularly head injuries.

Forth, the union also provides benefits, retirement and a safety nest for all former players, with a high percentage of that helping those who were seriously injured entertaining you with their dangerous work.

Most of the issue lies in the third and fifth tear, as owners say that their expenses beyond what is factored in before money is divided, have skyrocketed (stadiums, liability, negotiated television contracts, transportation and so on). Meanwhile the players association has long fought for the little guy, those players who are not in the NFL itself and those who through injuries and for other reasons are no longer playing the game.

Super President's Day. Forget the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving or New Year's Day. Super Bowl Sunday has replaced them all as America’s No. 1 holiday. It has become so big that the National Football League is considering giving the game its own three-day weekend.

That’s no joke. One scenario making the rounds at the league is that if the NFL gets the green light from the players to expand its regular season from 16 to 18 games, President’s Day weekend will probably become the permanent home of the Super Bowl.

“It’s going to be unbelievable,” predicted NBC Universal Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, whose network pays $660 million a year to carry the NFL’s Sunday night football package. “ I think that’s a pretty attractive idea,” echoed Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports, which shells out $650 million annually for its package of games.

Of course, the players are against expanding the schedule but if the owners are united on this then it seems likely.

Making it a super Sunday. Over the last several years, the NFL has taken several steps -- some subtle, some not -- to increase the audience, and it's paid off big time. For example, ratings for women have grown over 20% over the last five years. The Super Bowl is always the top-rated event every year, but over the last five years the numbers have grown each year and a record audience is probable this Sunday. The NFL has also greatly improved the way it schedules games during the season and gotten its TV partners to work together. The Los Angeles Times on how the NFL has built its popularity through wooing women, linking itself to patriotism and creating a dream factory through parity. On the money side, CNBC looks at how much Fox is poised to rake in with commercials.

Maybe if you won a few games. Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins who is not too popular with Redskins fans who have endured a decade of futility under his leadership, is suing D.C.'s City Paper for a scathing article it wrote on Snyder last November. The suit was filed in New York, which was probably smart since finding a sympathetic jury in D.C. might be a challenge. Snyder, who also owns Dick Clark Productions, retained Hollywood hot shot lawyer Patti Glaser to handle the suit. More from the Washington Post.

Good references. Financier David Bergstein danced around Miramax when it was in play, and now some of his cronies have landed at the production company. The Hollywood Reporter continues its aggressive coverage of Bergstein, who has certainly become something of a controversial figure.

Speed rehab. Charlie Sheen, star of the hit CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men" is already jonesing to return to work. Word is he wants to be done with whatever form of rehab he is involved in and back on set by the end of the month. More on Sheen -- because we never get tired of this -- from the Associated Press.

Oliver taken off the menu. Worried about not being able to swallow what might be served, the Los Angeles Unified School District pulled the plug on ABC's reality show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution." For those unfamiliar with the show, the British Oliver visits schools to see what kind of food they are serving kids and isn't shy about criticizing. "They fail to see me as a positive, and they fail to see the TV as an incredible way to spread the word, to inspire people, to inform parents, to see other teachers doing pioneering things," Oliver said in a speech Wednesday. More on the stomach rumblings from the Los Angeles Times.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Lots of sticking points between the TV networks and the TV academy over a new TV deal for the Emmy Awards. The NFL may be celebrating this weekend, butlabor unrest threatens next season. Brian Williams and Katie Couric bolted out of Egypt pretty fastraising questions over the wisdom of sending them in the first place.

About Me

Actor, Casting Director, Director, Broadcaster, Writer, Singer, Artistic
Director, Dramatur, Producer, Professor, Coach, Husband, Grandfather, Marketing
Professional and life long student Art Lynch joined the staff of John Robert
Powers in 1999. Lynch is also an adjunct professor at the Community College of
Southern Nevada, the Morning Edition Weekend Host for Nevada Public Radio and
one of 67 individuals who represent 126,000 actors as a member of the Board of
Directors of the Screen Actors Guild. He is the past president of the Nevada
Branch of the Screen Actors Guild and of the Professional Audio/Visual Communications
Association. A resident of Nevada since 1984, Lynch has an MA in Communications
from UNLV and a BA in Theater, Speech and Mass Communications from the
University of Illinois, Chicago. He is currently pursuing post-graduate studies
in theater, education and the entertainment industry. Art Lynch studied and
practiced the craft of acting in Chicago and California before settling in
Nevada. With his wife Laura, Art owned and operated a successful marketing
company with national clientele. Art was personally responsible for casting and
directing over 1,000 commercials and industrials, as well as assisting on film
and television projects in many ways. His career also includes earning awards
as a wire service, magazine and broadcast journalist. He is most proud,
however, of his daughters. Ann is a PhD in neuroscience and Beth is the proud
mother of his grandchildren, Evan and Elijah.

Short Film Festival

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